
What Causes Cell Phone Radiation and How Does it Effect Your Body?
What is so popular with young teenagers today? Cell phones. Walking around on 
campus to walking around at the mall with your cell phone may seem fashionable and 
trendy, but did you now that it might be causing you to get a cancer? Ninety percent of 
cell phone holders do not realize it and it should be something everyone should be aware 
of. It may seem a bit unusually how a cell phone can cause a child or an adult to get 
cancer, but it is true. New evidence is growing fast about health risks from mobile 
phones � electromagnetic radiation. These devices can be used to make telephone calls 
from almost anywhere. Symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, burning sensations on the 
skin were more common among those who make longer phone calls. At the same time 
there are a growing number of unconfirmed reports of individuals whose health has been 
affected after chronic, frequent use of mobile phones, presumably from radiation effects 
on cell. 
There are two types of phones, one has the antenna mounted on the handset and the 
other has the antenna mounted on a separate transmitter or, if the telephone is installed in 
a vehicle, mounted on the roof or rear window. Communication between a mobile 
telephone and the nearest base station is achieved by the microwave emissions from the 
antenna. Concerns have been raised about the type of mobile telephone that has the 
antenna in the handset. In this case, the antenna is very close to the user's head during 
normal use of the telephone and there is concern about the level of microwave emissions 
to which the brain is being exposed. Those telephones that have the antenna mounted 
elsewhere are of no concern, since exposure levels decrease rapidly with increasing 
distance from the antenna. Cordless telephones, which need to be operated within about 
20 meters of a base unit that is connected directly to the telephone system do not have 
any health concerns associated with their use because exposure levels are very low. . 
Media reports have claimed that up to 70 percent of the microwave emissions from hand-
held mobile telephones may be absorbed in the user's head. This is not supported by the 
evidence, but nevertheless leads to speculation that hot spots may be created in the user's 
brain, thereby raising concerns that the telephones may be a health risk. Other reports 
have indicated that mobile telephone users suffer localized headaches when they use their 
telephone. At this stage, it is difficult to evaluate the evidence supporting these reports, 
since they have not been published. 
This work on human subjects follows other phone studies in animals suggesting 
that radiation from mobiles may cause brain tumors, cancer, anxiety, memory loss and 
serious birth defects. An Australian study found that mice exposed to pulsed digital 
phone radiation over 18 months had twice the risk of developing cancers. An American 
study found that learning and short term memory were impaired after 45 minutes 
exposure to radiation from phones in rats. And other studies of electromagnetic radiation 
on pregnant mice suggest that high exposure can affect intra-uterine development, 
confirmed recently in chicks. The effects in humans are unknown. In Britain a 27 year 
old woman with a brain tumor is taking a mobile phone manufacturer to court who she 
blames for her tumor. A biologist, Roger Coghill has also been given permission to bring 
a case against a provider of mobile phone equipment for failing to warn people of 
radiation hazards. A wide variety of electrical devices contribute to electro smog, 
ranging from computers, to phones, TV sets, radar transmitter and transformers. However 
mobile phone radiation is certainly intense, as evidenced by the effects on aircraft 
navigation systems, or more obviously on a nearby conventional telephone or a music 
system 
The brain cancer reports originated in the USA where a number of lawsuits have 
been lodged against mobile telephone manufacturers and suppliers. These claims for 
damages allege that the microwave emissions from mobile telephones used by the 
claimants caused their brain cancers. Those few cases that have been tried have been 
dismissed for lack of supporting evidence. 
Microwaves are but one type of electromagnetic field of the ways that these fields 
are described is by specifying their frequency. The range of frequencies that are useful 
for telecommunications include microwaves. 
Some public concern about mobile telephones is erroneously based on media 
attention to the possibility of adverse effects from exposure to power-line 
electromagnetic fields, which have a much lower frequency than the microwaves emitted 
by mobile telephones. The physical properties and biological effects of these fields are 
very different from microwaves and it is meaningless to extrapolate the results of those 
studies to the subject of this Information Bulletin. 
The current Australian exposure Standard is based on the well-established thermal 
effects of exposure to microwaves. That is, when tissue is exposed to sufficiently high 
levels of microwaves, the tissue is heated and damage may occur. The exposure limits are 
set well below levels where any significant heating occurs. The Standard also sets limits 
for pulsed radiation that are intended to eliminate possible effects where heating is not 
evident. 
All mobile telephones marketed in Australia must satisfy the regulatory 
requirements of Austel the Australian Telecommunications Authority, as well as that 
part of the Australian Standard that sets limits on the power output of a mobile telephone. 
Therefore, use of a mobile telephone is not expected to cause significant heating in any 
part of the body, including the brain. 
Some research has indicated that non-thermal effects resulting from low-level 
microwave exposure also occur. However, the existence of these effects has not been 
sufficiently established to allow for them in the Standard. A few animal studies suggest 
that exposure to weak microwave fields can accelerate the development of cancer. 
Further studies are required to establish their reproducibility and the existence or 
otherwise of a dose-response relationship. Whether these results are relevant to users of 
mobile telephones is not clear. In any event, these results cannot be dismissed at this 
stage. 
The very few studies that have been conducted on human populations 
epidemiological studies do not provide any direct information on possible mobile 
telephone hazards and hence are of limited value. The results of these studies are difficult 
to interpret because exposure levels were either not measured or impossible to determine 
from the data provided. In general, however, this type of study will be useful in 
identifying possible links between mobile telephone use and cancer risk. Complementary 
cellular and animal research is required to establish any cause-and-effect relationship and 
the biological mechanisms involved. 
The Australian Radiation Laboratory continues to closely monitor the research 
being conducted in this area. On the specific issue of brain cancer occurring in users of 
these telephones, it is important to note that such cancers existed before the introduction 
of mobile telephones. It is simply not possible to identify the cause of any single case of 
cancer. Long-term studies to investigate whether mobile telephone users have a greater 
incidence of, say, brain cancer than the general population have not been completed. 
The Commonwealth Government has established the Electromagnetic Energy 
Public Health Issues Committee to examine and advise on the adequacy of health 
exposure standards, compliance procedures, local and overseas research results and the 
potential for further research, all with respect to mobile telephone use, among other 
things. The Committee includes representatives from the Department of Health and 
Family Services, the Department of Communications and the Arts and the Therapeutic 
Goods Administration. Mobile telephone companies and service providers are not 
represented. 
Late in 1996, the Commonwealth Government announced that $4.5mil would be 
provided for an Australian research and public information program over the next 4-5 
years. The National Health and Medical Research Council will manage this research 
program. There is no evidence that microwave exposure from mobile telephones causes 
cancer, and inconclusive evidence that such exposure accelerates the growth of an 
already-existing cancer. More research on this issue needs to be carried out. 
Users concerned about the possibility of health effects can minimize their 
using a mobile telephone which does not have the antenna in the handset or using a 
'hands-free' attachment. There is no clear evidence in the existing scientific literature that 
the use of digital or analogue mobile telephones poses a long-term public health hazard 
There are five ways to reduce the risk of radiation going in your body. One is to 
have shorter conversation. Try to avoid speaking for long periods on the cell phone; 
furthermore, try to plan your calls in such a way that you use ordinary phones for long 
conversations. Second, don�t sit in the car. Speak as little as possible inside the car 
because it amplifies the radiation. If you have to speak a lot from the care, get a roof 
antenna. Third, protect your baby. Don�t place a turned-on mobile phone in the baby 
carriage. The mobile phone produces microwaves even if you don�t speak in it. Fourth, 
avoid waist. Don�t carry the cell phone in the belt round the waist. It is unnecessary to 
expose the deposits of bone marrow in the hips, and the testicles to the microwaves. 
Earlier there have been warnings against placing the phone next to the heart. This is now 
regarded as being less dangerous, unless you have a pacemaker. The best place to carry 
the phone is in a military trousers leg pocket. And finally, direct the antenna. Always 
pull out the antenna when you use the phone and direct it away from the head, not upright 
in parallel with the head. It may be a marginal difference, but it reduces the radiation into 
the head somewhat. 
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